


Teenage Durin Drabbles

by NowThatsDedication



Series: Young Durins [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Brother relationship, Fluff, Humor, Teenage Durins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 05:57:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NowThatsDedication/pseuds/NowThatsDedication
Summary: They grow up so fast! Fíli and Kíli navigate through more grown up obstacles, with plenty of humor, angst, and mischief.





	Teenage Durin Drabbles

Uncle said it was a rite of passage, albeit one of many he'd face in the coming years. Tomorrow, exactly three full moons after his last birthday, Fíli would be considered somewhere between a child and an adult.

It seemed like a vast period to spend in between, yet, on the less confusing side of it, Fíli would receive his name. His _other_ name, only to be known and uttered among his people. It was a name that was earned, and bestowed with consideration to his character.  
  
Fíli wished for nothing more than a worthy name to be chosen for him. A strong name, one that meant he was destined for great things. A name to show how capable he was, how skilled, how brave. Durin Reborn, Guardian of the Blue Mountains, perhaps even Restorer of Erebor, Fíli dreamed with head held high, a slow smile spreading across his face.

It was a chance to be considered something more. He would no longer be known as just ‘The Little Nephew,’ ‘Dis’s Boy,’ or ‘The Blond Lad.’

What did Fíli want to be? He wanted to be a hero. The kind that was remembered for generations, and even further beyond through embellished tales, like the stories he loved to hear.

A lanky shadow loomed behind, footsteps so soft they could barely be heard. But few things eluded Fíli’s sharp ears. 

“Kíli, I know you’re there.”  
  
Kíli emerged with a startled, caught-in-the-act expression. He had grown tall as of late, and now had a size advantage over his brother. It was an adjustment for Fíli to look up at him, rather than down.

“Was I that obvious?”  
  
“As always. Why are you following me?” He questioned, slightly irritated he couldn’t have a moment to himself. But he didn’t chase him away, he never did.  
  
“I wanted to see what you were up to.”  
  
“I’m only taking a walk.”  
  
“Ah, clearing your head for tomorrow, I see.”  
  
“No!” Fíli blurted, defensively. “I’m just walking. I’m not thinking about anything.”  
  
Kíli smirked.“Riiiight, an entirely blank mind, I'm sure.”  
  
“I must have learned it from you. Why are you so concerned about what I'm doing, or not doing?”  
  
“Because I want you to tell me everything!” He bounded forward in unbridled excitement. Kíli’s curiosity toward such matters was well known.  
  
“You know I can’t, not until you come of age.”  
  
“But I can’t wait!” He whined, sounding much younger than his new stature indicated.  
  
“It’s the rules.”  
  
Kíli’s shoulders slumped. “I’d tell you if I were the eldest.”  
  
“And you’d be shunned and disavowed and banished.”  
  
“Oh they don’t do that, right?”  
  
Fíli threw up his hands, “You never know.”  
  
“You won't even tell me what your name is?”  
  
“It’s a secret.”  
  
“Pffft, to outsiders!” The young dwarf scoffed. “Not to me, not your own brother! We don’t have secrets. At least tell me your name, and how they come up with it. Because how can they give one now? I certainly haven’t had a chance to do anything important…yet,” he pondered.

“I guess our futures can be somewhat determined already,” Fíli replied with a dreamy, far away look. His future was bright and promising, he knew it.

“Maybe you grow into the name, like clothing.” (Kíli was more likely to be growing out of clothes, lately) “Or maybe it’s based on what you look like or...or…hey Fíli, I think I know what yours will be! Lord Know-It-All of Ered Luin!” He laughed heartily at his own joke.  
  
“Very funny,” Fíli growled. “Yours would be Nosy Idiot.”  
  
Kíli didn’t argue that moniker. “You’ll probably make something up if you tell me at all, which you likely won’t. You’ll be grown up tomorrow, you might ignore me altogether.”  
  
“Not quite. I have a long way to go. I just won’t be considered a child anymore.”  
  
“But I still am?”  
  
“Kind of. By definition. Sometimes by action, too.”  
  
“But I’m bigger than you!” Kíli observed.  
  
It was becoming a sore spot that pushed his (usually patient) buttons. “Not smarter, though!” Fíli countered.  
  
“Uh sure, but because you’re older,” Kíli shrugged. It was perfectly natural for wisdom to sprout with time, like a beard, he assumed.  
  
“Nah, you’re plenty smart,” Fíli reassured that he was kidding; Kíli could be sensitive at times and would mull it for days if Fíli deliberately insulted him. “You’ll be clever enough to get me to tell you everything tomorrow, whether I want to or not.”  
  
Kíli bit his lip to hide his grin. He relished compliments, unlike Fíli, who didn’t know what to do with them.  
  
“Aw, that’s just good old persistence.”  
  
“Well, there you go. You are also very persistent.”

“That I am. So…are you going to tell me?”  
  
“Give it a rest! I have enough to think about.”  
  
“Aha! You _are_ thinking.”  
  
“You _are_ annoying.”  
  
“See, it is a big deal, but you say it’s not. I just want you to tell me exactly what happens, and what I need to do when it’s my turn.”  
  
“But, Kíli, I thought you liked surprises?”  
  
“Yes, but you always say, ‘surprises are for the poorly prepared.’ I want to be prepared.”  
  
“I don’t think we have to do much. Nothing we can mess up, anyway.”  
  
“Good. Because I want to do well. I need to.”  
  
“You’ll do fine.” Fíli wondered why he was giving Kíli encouragement for an event years away when he himself would face it in a day’s time, and certainly no one was encouraging him. That was a selfish thought, so he pushed it away. Kíli could use the extra support.  
  
“You think so?”  
  
“Why wouldn’t you?”  
  
Kíli crossed his arms and stared at the ground. “I guess I’m…I’m….” he trailed off.  
  
“You know, uncle told me the other day that you were, how did he put it? _Exceeding_ _expectations_. He is very, very proud of you.”  
  
“He is?” Kíli asked with much uncertainty.  
  
“Of course he is!” Fíli left out a few things uncle said, of course, but the sentiment was truthful. “And you have plenty of time to improve and learn. You will certainly be given a worthy name. Not idiot. Although…”  
  
Kíli gently elbowed Fíli in the side, but it was unexpected and he almost lost his balance. When did Kíli get so strong?  
  
“Oof, careful, don’t bruise me! I have to be in one piece for my ceremony!”

“The ceremony you don't care about and aren’t thinking about, that one?”

“Oh, stop!”

****

Fíli wasn’t nervous, in fact he was rather confident. Respect was in his grasp; the respect – but perhaps not the fear – his uncle commanded. With a new title, a new identity, to go along with it. He straightened the embroidery on his shirt; have to look every part the future legend, he reasoned.  
  
“You look ridiculous,” Kíli interrupted as he eyed Fíli’s over-the-top finery and shook his head. “That doesn’t fit right.”  
  
“What do _you_ know about dressing up?”  
  
“Plenty, because I watch you do it all the time.”  
  
“Huh, well I like it. I’m not sure what to expect, so it's better to be overdressed.”  
  
“You’ll tell me what I’ll need to wear, to prepare me? If it’s formal or very solemn, or-”  
  
“Yesssss, Kíli,” he sighed.  
  
“I’m being persistent so you don’t forget.”  
  
“You’re worried about this more than I am.”  
  
“I’m not _worried_ , I’m concerned. Worrying never gets you anywhere, right? As you always say.”  
  
“Right, no worries,” Fíli agreed as he tied off his last braid. “Well, here I go.” He waited for a response or well wishes from his brother. Kíli only stared blankly.  
  
“What, no ‘good luck’ or-”  
  
“I didn’t think you needed it. And don’t you always say you have to work for what you want and not rely on luck? You always tell me that, Fíli.”  
  
“That’s true. There’s no such thing as luck, I suppose.”  
  
“Oh, but I disagree. I am especially lucky,” Kíli flashed a cryptic smile.  
  
“How so?”  
  
“Because…never mind. Go forth and good lu- I mean, go impress them with your…you!”  
  
“Thank you.” Fíli didn’t know what to make of his brother sometimes, but appreciated his enthusiasm.

****  
  
Fíli entered the hall to congratulatory remarks and slaps on the back, cheerful voices declaring ‘there’s a pint waiting’ for him in his honor. He calculated it to be a washtub full of ale after all the promises.  
  
“Perhaps later,” Thorin ushered his nephew away, “I assured his mother I would keep him on his feet. He's still young, mind you.”  
  
“Aw, let the lad celebrate! You only come of age once!”  
  
“And some never do,” Thorin whispered to Fíli. “Do you feel any different?”  
  
“Not really,” he answered, fighting to hide his disappointment. “Am I supposed to?”  
  
“No, you should feel the same as before.”  
  
Maybe it wasn’t so important after all. He hoped it wasn't.  
  
Amidst the rowdy crowd, Fíli slipped away unseen, as he could so effortlessly do. He needed a few moments to reflect, for he knew Kíli would be waiting for him and would ask. Incessantly.  
  
It wasn’t a simple disappointment with his new name, no, it was worse. He _hated_ it. It wasn’t grand or prophetic or strong.

“What does it mean?” He had asked shyly, hoping he misheard or misunderstood, or it was a joke. But he didn’t, and it wasn’t; it translated roughly to the gist of ‘For Others.’

“For your selfless nature,” they said. Fíli had drowned them out, the confusion on his face must have been glaring but he didn’t care.

All that effort he put in! No other young dwarf matched his skills, he knew. Leadership was in his blood, sometimes difficult to assert, but, it was there. He knew it. He would have preferred a meaningless random name, or one describing his hair, even. Fíli now doubted the traditions, the elders, himself. Either they got it wrong or he was not particularly special, after all.

Kíli did eventually find him, as he could so effortlessly do. “There you are, Fíli! Or should I call you Fíli? What did you have to do, what was it like?”

“They specifically said not to tell little brothers until they grow up,” Fíli deadpanned.

“Well, I’m not little anymore, sooooo…what do you have to share?”

“You know I can’t say much.”  
  
“Can you give me a vague description?”  
  
Fíli searched for the best words. “It was a load of shit.”  
  
Kíli’s eyes popped in shock. “What do you mean?” He stammered, like all the truths he held on to came unraveled at once.  
  
“It means nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's all a big laugh.”  
  
“I was looking forward to it,” Kíli’s lip quivered.  
  
“There's nothing to look forward to. But don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of drink to be handed out to you, at least.”  
  
Kíli’s face fell further, his dreams crushed. Fíli forgot that Kíli put weight on his words and trusted everything he said.  
  
“Aw, Kíli stop. I didn’t mean...it was fine, really. I was just expecting-”  
  
“What, exactly?”  
  
“My name,” he sighed. “They determined I’m not important, nor will I be.”  
  
“That’s not true at all! Besides, you’re not an actual adult yet, as you said. There's time to prove yourself! That’s what you told me. Huh? Right?” He nudged Fíli’s arm. “Won’t you tell me? I won’t make fun of it, come on!”  
  
“I…errr…fine. I’ll tell you, but don’t ever use it. I’d rather be known as Fíli than something so-”  
  
“Embarrassing?”  
  
“Dull!”  
  
“You aren’t dull,” Kíli muttered under his breath. Fíli whispered it to him; it even sounded weak when spoken aloud, he determined.  
  
“That’s not bad! It’s not, you know, evoking fear in anyone. But it's very fitting.”  
  
“No, it’s simply wrong. You are only trying to be polite.”  
  
“What? Are you serious?” Kíli guffawed at this absurd statement. “Maybe it should have been Oblivious Idiot, instead.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“It may not be the most exciting, but it’s not wrong at all! But what do I know, I’m not an official member of society yet like you are,” He crossed his arms in frustration. How dense can an older, wiser brother be?  
  
“What are you going on about?”  
  
“I’m not going to waste my time listing examples, but…are you moping? You always tell me to stop moping and focus on the positive, yet here you are! You don’t listen to your own advice! Such a hypocrite, it's shocking.”  
  
Fíli rolled his eyes. Yes, he was moping, but he had every reason to. “At least few will ever know or hear about it.”  
  
“Oh, they _will_ ,” Kíli swore defiantly, “I only hope I can be named so accurately.”  
  
Fíli ignored him and continued, “How will others see me, with such a boring title?”  
  
“It’s not about yourself and what others think! It’s about your actions. You always tell me that! When will you ever follow your own advice?” Kíli’s voice cracked, as it had been recently, but this time due to emotion.  
  
“Why do you listen to it?”  
  
“Because it’s coming from _you_.”  
  
“So? What do I know? Apparently nothing.”  
  
“You always have the answers, even when you don't realize. Maybe if you stopped worrying about how courageous you appear and instead think about how much you matter to…everyone.”  
  
Everything was backwards today; Kíli was being the reasonable one, with all the sense. Maybe he was ready to come of age, instead. Fíli suddenly felt childish, unappreciative. It didn’t matter, did it? Who cared, beside Fíli and his pride? Kíli seemed to think the world of him, for some reason. A wave of shame overcame him. It's true, I still have a long way to go, Fíli thought.  
  
“It's not a bad trait, to care about others. Of course not. I'm sorry I acted that way. But I was so caught up in being told I’d be destined for greatness and it didn't happen.”  
  
“Umm, Fíli? I hate to tell you this, I really do, because you’re my brother and I don’t want to get all mushy, but…you _are_ great. Very great. Right now.”  
  
“Mmmhmm,” Fíli squirmed. “We aren’t going to get into this sentimental stuff, it makes my stomach turn.”  
  
“So does your face,” Kíli retorted with gleeful mischief. He forgot he wasn't supposed to say nice things to Fíli, it made him uncomfortable.  
  
“Good, that’s more like it.”  
  
“I do mean it. Um, the first thing. Not about your face...but sometimes…”  
  
“Kíli, enough. I know where you sleep.”  
  
“But aren’t I the most honest dwarf you know?”  
  
“Painfully honest. Now shut it.” It was a familiar game: who could annoy the other into submission. Fíli did enjoy it, but he rarely won.  
  
“Shut what?”  
  
“Kíli, I’m an almost-adult now, I don’t have time for your immature–”  
  
“Whatever, I’m bigger than you anyway.”  
  
“That’s it! You'll be sorry now!” He pulled Kíli into a playful headlock, but Kíli quickly struggled free and slipped out, flipping Fíli onto his back.

"Well done,” Fíli praised, begrudgingly, a little surprised.

“Just another thing I learned from you,” Kíli admitted, helping him to his feet. “To your disadvantage, unfortunately.”

Fíli had swiftly forgotten all about the ceremony and the name, but not Kíli’s warm confession. He remembered the large quantity of ale that was promised to him. 

“Come with me, I have some spoils to share.”  
  
“Oooh, how generous! Really?”  
  
“Well, it isn’t physically possible to consume it all by myself.”  
  
“Fíli! There you go again!”

“What’d I do now?”

“You always tell me, anything is possible if you try!”

“You’re right!”

Fíli came to realize he already was a hero, of sorts. Just like his name indicated.

 

 


End file.
